1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to wireless radio telephones and, more particularly, to radio telephones operative with a station registering device for redirecting of telephone calls.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Modern mobile stations employ a range of communication techniques, including frequency, time and/or code division multiplexed narrowband radio frequency, for establishing and maintaining telecommunications with cellular base stations. With the growing popularity of mobile stations configured for operating in cellular telephone systems, increased flexibility in user utilization of these mobile stations is desired. One approach to providing user flexibility of the mobile stations is by providing low-power personal or private base stations over which a user can register his or her mobile station and also make and receive telephone calls. A private base station shares the same frequency bands with large cellular base stations, but operates at a greatly reduced power level. Also, each private base station has a land-line subscriber telephone number through which all incoming and outgoing calls are routed. An arrangement that employs a private base station is described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/509,406.
Although private base stations currently exist that can support registration of a mobile station, these stations require a number of complex procedures for operation in a cellular telephone system. For example, before a private base station can begin initial operation, it must scan the cellular radio frequencies to determine those frequencies that are in use by cellular base stations within its operating range. This procedure is to ensure that the private base station does not operate on a frequency that would potentially interfere with any near-by cellular base stations. Thus, because of their complexity, private base stations are currently expensive. It is desirable, therefore, to be able to economically reroute or forward cellular telephone calls intended for a mobile station to, for example, the station user's home telephone number when that user is at home and does not require cellular telephone service.